Assessment Of Wellbeing In Early Childhood Education And

IntroductionChildren’s wellbeing currently occupies a central placein major international and Australian policy documentsconcerning children’s lives. Significant efforts havebeen focused on conceptualising children’s wellbeing,and developing internationally comparable indicatorsand frameworks for its measurement and monitoring(Australian Institute of Health and Welfare [AIHW],2011a; AIHW, 2011b; Australian Research Alliancefor Children and Youth [ARACY], 2010; ARACY, 2008;European Commission, 2008; Organisation for EconomicCooperation and Development [OECD], 2009a; UnitedNations Children’s Fund [UNICEF], 2007). This work istaking place against the backdrop of a broad economicand political shift in focus from economic performanceoriented goals and measures, towards those thatencompass social progress, quality of life and wellbeing(OECD, 2009b; Stiglitz, Sen & Fitoussi, 2009; AustralianGovernment, 2004).A strong sense of wellbeing enables children to engagepositively and confidently with their environment andtherefore to take full advantage of learning opportunities.Indeed, ‘wellbeing is central to learning and learningcontributes to wellbeing’ (Department of Education andChildren’s Services, 2005, p. 5). Ratified by all AustralianEducation Ministers in 2008, The Melbourne Declarationon Educational Goals for Young Australians, outlines theeducational goal that every young Australian becomes aconfident and creative individual with ‘a sense of selfworth, self-awareness, and personal identity that enablesthem to manage their emotional, mental, spiritual andphysical wellbeing’ (Ministerial Council on Education,Employment, Training and Youth Affairs, 2008, p. 9).Wellbeing is one of the five outcomes identified ascentral to children’s learning and development in boththe Australian Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF;DEEWR, 2009) and the Victorian Early Years Learning andDevelopment Framework (VEYLDF; DEECD, 2009), withexpectations that ‘children become strong in their social,emotional and spiritual wellbeing’, and that ‘children takeincreasing responsibility for their own health and physicalwellbeing’ (DEECD, 2009, p. 23). Essentially, wellbeing hasbecome central to policies, frameworks, and programsconcerned with enhancing the quality of children’s livesand establishing positive life trajectories (OECD, 2009a,2009b; Pollard & Davidson, 2001).This literature review was commissioned by the VictorianCurriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA) forthe purpose of identifying contemporary practices inassessing wellbeing in children from birth to five years ofage. The review critiques the most prominent assessmenttools currently used in early childhood education andcare (ECEC) and considers their relevance both in light ofresearch evidence about young children’s wellbeing andapplicability to the Australian context.There are two main sections in this report. The reviewbegins with a discussion of what constitutes wellbeingin ECEC, as the construct of wellbeing is both complexand contested. It considers wellbeing assessment as aresource for sharing knowledge and for dialogue acrossmultidisciplinary settings about the developmentaltrajectory from birth to the early years of school. Amethod for inclusion in this review is provided inAppendix A. In the second main part of the report, arange of contemporary assessment tools are summarisedand considered in light of the strengths and limitationsof each model in assessing young children’s wellbeing.This section identifies essential elements for assessingwellbeing in practice. The second part of the reportalso provides a set of principles that early childhoodprofessionals may use to consider the efficacy of eachtool for their own practice. The report provides a platformto consider how assessment of wellbeing can enableearly childhood professionals to be specific and explicitin discussions and reporting that will improve the longterm outcomes and processes for children’s learning anddevelopment.Assessment of Wellbeing in Early Childhood Education and Care: Literature Review5

Defining wellbeing for children frombirth to five years of age1.1 How is wellbeing defined in earlychildhood education and care?Defining and articulating the construct of wellbeing inthe early years of life differs across domains of health,psychology, mental health and education (Barblett &Maloney, 2010). What constitutes wellbeing is largelyinformed by the particular professional and theoreticallens; for example, in child health research and practice, adeficit paradigm – identifying what a child isn’t yet able todo – was historically prominent. In education, attention islargely given to demonstrable skills and behaviours thatare integral to wellbeing (Mashford-Scott, Church & Tayler,2012). The divergence in defining wellbeing is mirrored inapproaches to assessment or measurement of wellbeing:what it looks like and how best to support it. There havebeen attempts, internationally, to develop consistentand comparable wellbeing indicators, however variabilitypersists relative to the focus of assessment (OECD,2009a; UNICEF, 2007).In order to observe and support wellbeing developmentin children, ECEC practitioners require a well-definedconcept of wellbeing together with reliable and accessibleassessment tools (Pollard & Lee, 2003). While thereare numerous ways to define wellbeing, there is someagreement and commonality on the traits, observablequalities and demonstrable dispositions that support thedevelopment of wellbeing in the early years (Mayr & Ulich,2009; Barblett & Maloney, 2010), including: attachment;affect and regulation; resilience and persistence;adaptability; confidence; peer relations and prosocial skills(Laevers, 2005).In the VEYLDF (DEECD, 2009) wellbeing encompassesgood mental and physical health, feelings of happinessand satisfaction. Wellbeing is an outcome specified in theVEYLDF and is seen as integral to holistic developmentacross the birth-to-eight-years life trajectory. Wellbeingis also described in terms of both internal and externalbehaviours including trust and confidence, humour,happiness and satisfaction. It describes a cumulativedevelopment of skills from birth to eight years withincreasing capacities in self-regulation, positive affectand prosocial skills. Relationships are at the core of thedevelopment of wellbeing, with emphasis resting on theimportance of secure, predictable and loving attachmentsfrom the very earliest days of life (DEECD, 2009).Wellbeing and social emotional competence is dependenton a set of complex skills and dispositions that developfrom birth. From the earliest days of life infants very6quickly begin to refine their responses to their environmentand those around them in an attempt to make sense ofthe world (Lally & Mangione, 2006). At the very core ofwellbeing is the development of strong foundations onwhich secure attachment and loving relationships candevelop. Early secure attachment contributes to a longterm range of wellbeing competencies including a loveof learning, a sense of oneself and an ability to regulateemotions (Commonwealth of Australia, 2009; NationalScientific Council on the Developing Child, 2011).When children develop strong and secure relationshipswith the key adults in their lives they develop theconfidence to explore their environment, safe andsupported (Mayr & Ulich, 2009). As babies grow theybegin to exert a little more control over their actions andby 12 months are demonstrating the beginnings of selfregulation and positive affect in an attempt to engage withthe adults in their lives. The quality of relationships laysthe foundation for development (Australian GovernmentDepartment of Health and Ageing, 2010), and highquality interactions characterised by positive regardprove fundamental to all aspects of learning (Siraj &Asani, 2015).With increasing physical mobility comes increasedopportunity to interact and explore the world around them.Toddlers continue to develop and build on relationshipsthey have formed and this gives them the confidence tobegin to extend their interactions beyond the familiarityof those they know (Laevers, 2005). Toddlers with strongand secure attachments are those who feel confident tobegin to engage with their peers, alongside them to beginwith and as their wellbeing capacity develops they beginto better manage their emotions and impulses, persistwith activities when they don’t go their way and begin toturn-take and take pleasure sharing their successes withthose around them (National Scientific Council on theDeveloping Child, 2004).As the capacities of attachment, positive affect, regulationand persistence strengthen, so does a child’s confidencein themselves and their sense of belonging (AustralianGovernment Department of Health and Ageing, 2010).Self-esteem and self-belief begin to emerge as childrencontinue to develop a sense of achievement in theirexperiences, their friendships and their relationships.This wellbeing trajectory continues to develop into thepreschool years. Children who have been supported todevelop a strong socio-emotional wellbeing foundationdemonstrate a greater capacity to manage their ownand others’ emotions, assert themself when required,Assessment of Wellbeing in Early Childhood Education and Care: Literature Review

articulate how they are feeling and rely increasingly onverbal reasoning versus emotionally led responses (Mayr& Ulich, 2009). As children enter formal schooling awide range of social skills come into play. A developingflexibility that allows them to accommodate betweendifferent behaviours and interactions also serves as abasis for wellbeing (Bernard, 2012). The more practicechildren have in activities that strengthen emergingwellbeing dispositions, the more automatic positive neuralpathways become and the set of cognitive and socialcapabilities that underpin the development of wellbeingbuild and strengthen (National Scientific Council on theDeveloping Child, 2004a; National Scientific Council onthe Developing Child, 2004b).Wellbeing indicators, dispositions and skills identifiedacross a range of research studies are tied to children’slearning trajectories. For example, Shonkoff and Phillips(2000) identify a range of social and emotional skillsrequired for successful school entry including: selfconfidence; the capacity to develop positive relationshipswith peers and adults; concentration and persistence;and the ability to solve social challenges and effectivecommunication of emotions. Similarly, Bertram and Pascal(2002) outlined four key social and emotional wellbeingskills necessary as predictors for school success:independence; creativity; self-motivation; and resilience.Bernard (2007) talks about five social and emotional‘foundations’: getting along; organisation; persistence;confidence; and resilience. In addition to the five socialand emotional ‘foundations’ Bernard also describes 12habits of mind, that is attitudes or ways of thinking thathave a direct bearing on the way children think, behaveand feel from learning situation to situation. These ‘habitsof mind’ include the way children accept themselves, takerisks, demonstrate independence, work hard, persist,set themselves goals, plan their time, are tolerant ofothers, think before acting, playing by the rules and beingsociably responsible (Bernard, 2007). Those children whoconsistently demonstrate the greatest long-term academicsuccess are those who have had the opportunity todevelop a range of key wellbeing dispositions throughrich and cumulative learning experiences across theearly childhood experience (Nadeem, Maslak, Chacko &Hoagwood, 2010).In addition to these objective, observable aspects orindicators of children’s wellbeing, there is also a subjectiveelement of holistic wellbeing that is experienced bythe child, meaning that a child’s wellbeing cannot beassessed entirely objectively (Pascal & Bertram 2009;Stewart-Brown 2000). Subjective wellbeing has beendefined as ‘satisfaction associated with fulfilling one’spotential’ (Pollard & Davidson, 2001, p. 10) or ‘a high levelof positive affect, a low level of negative affect, and a highdegree of satisfaction with one’s life’ (Deci & Ryan, 2008,p. 1). Rosemary Roberts’ (2010) definition of wellbeing,‘feeling alright in yourself and with other people, andreasonably coping’ (p. 191) taps into the subjectiveelement of wellbeing, noting that a child’s ‘sense ofwellbeing’ involves an internal experience and assessmentof ‘feeling alright’.1.2 What is children’s trajectory ofwellbeing in early childhood?We know that wellbeing is necessary in order for childrento flourish and thrive, and the children most likely toexperience school success are those with strong socialand emotional foundations (Rock & Pollack 2002;Shonkoff & Phillips, 2000). Alarmingly, some studies havesuggested that as little as 40 per cent of children begintheir first formal year of schooling with the necessarywellbeing skills that enable them to maximise their fulllearning potential (Bernard, 2007). With these figures inmind, the scope of this review is less about examiningthe array of definitions and conceptual parameters ofwellbeing, but rather about identifying those features mostcommonly attributed to positive wellbeing trajectories,and the observational and assessment frameworkscurrently available to assess and support practitioners inthe progressive development of these key skills across thebirth-to-five-years life trajectory.The foundations for social and emotional competenceand wellbeing are laid well before a child begins formalschooling. Therefore, for children to progress on apositive lifelong learning trajectory, wellbeing and socialand emotional competency must be a focus from theearliest days of a child’s life (Roberts, 2010; AustralianGovernment Department of Health and Ageing, 2010).Indeed social and emotional wellbeing is an emergingcapacity; a developmental journey that changes overtime (South Australia Department of Education andChildren’s Services, 2008; Laevers, 2005). We knowfrom early brain science research that neuroplasticityis at a peak in the early years of life and it is duringthis crucial developmental phase that we have anexcellent opportunity to positively influence development(National Scientific Council on the Developing Child,2007; Blakemore & Frith, 2005). The premise is simple:repeated negative thoughts and experiences strengthennegative neural pathways. Chronic negativity (such asstress, anger, fear, sadness, helplessness) eventuallyhardwires automatic negative thought processes insidethe brain (National Scientific Council on the DevelopingChild, 2007). In contrast, repeated positive thoughts andemotions strengthen the areas in the brain that stimulatepositivity and optimism, and ultimately enhance a child’slong-term resilence (Shonkoff & Philips, 2000).The optimisation of this type of protective capacity andwellbeing in infancy is cumulative and requires broad,rich, supported and, most importantly, repeated learningopportunities (Roberts, 2010; Lally & Mangione, 2006;Laevers, 2005). Responsive caregivers, warm andloving environments, secure attachments and a senseAssessment of Wellbeing in Early Childhood Education and Care: Literature Review7

of security and belonging are the foundation on whichinfants begin to develop the dispositions identified asessential for positive long term wellbeing (CSEFEL, 2008;South Australia Department of Education and Children’sServices, 2008; Laevers, 2005).Another significant factor influencing children’sdevelopment of wellbeing is executive brain function.From the very first days of life, infants encounter aconstant stream of information and they are very quicklyrequired to begin to refine their responses to both externaland internal stimulae (Lally & Mangione, 2006). At birth,many of our responses are innate and reflexive andare nature’s way of protecting us and ensuring that webegin to connect socially and emotionally with what isgoing on around us (Riley, Carns, Ramminger, Klinsker& Sisco, 2009). Initially these reactions and interactionsare based on survival (for example, crying when hungry),but gradually, as our developing neural pathways areengaged, our responses and reactions become lessinstinctive and more regulated and controlled.By 12 months, early signs of self control and thebeginnings of mental flexibility are starting to emerge. Bythree years, these capacities become more refined but arestill in the development phase. By age five to six years,there has been an enormous leap in social and emotionaldevelopment and executive function with much morecomplex capacities emerging including: impulse control;the ability to get along with others; and the ability to followrules and to keep trying when something doesn’t go asexpected (National Scientific Council on the DevelopingChild, 2011). While social and emotional wellbeingcontinues to develop into adolescence, the greatestwindow of opportunity exists between the age of birth andeight years (National Scientific Council on the DevelopingChild, 2011).Many of the skills and capacities linked to thedevelopment of wellbeing are underpinned by executivebrain function. Executive function allows us to filterdistractions when we are trying to concentrate onsomething, and to regulate and control our impulses inresponse to what is going on around us. In turn, this helpsus to stay on task, better manage our time effectively andultimately make us more productive (Ashdown & Bernard,2012; Roberts, 2010; Laevers, 2005; Shonkoff & Phillips,2000). Children who have had multiple, cumulativeand repeated opportunities to develop and refine theirexecutive functioning across the early learning trajectory,will have the most well-developed wellbeing capacities,and therefore also the greatest chance of succeedingboth academically and socially, even if they have beenidentified as being at developmental risk (Davis, et al.,2010a: Ashdown & Bernard, 2012). The architecture ofour brains is such that the development of wellbeing isshaped by our experiences and can, in fact, be explicitlytaught (Bernard, 2004; Ashdown & Bernard, 2012; Joseph& Strain, 2003). The more practice children have in8activities that strengthen emerging wellbeing dispositions,the stronger the neural pathways become and the setof cognitive and social capabilities that underpin thedevelopment of wellbeing develops (National ScientificCouncil on the Developing Child, 2004a; NationalScientific Cou

The Devereux Early Childhood Assessment for Infants (DECA-I), Toddlers (DECA-T), and Preschoolers (DECA-P2) Mayr and Ulich’s PERIK instrument Berkeley Puppet Interview for 4–8-year-olds Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) KidsMatter Early Childhood Initiative Michael Bernard’s You Can Do It! program